For those who are interested, we will be organizing a Brighten Up Winter exchange.  The purpose of the exchange is to send a small gift to another person. The theme of the gift is the color red. The recipient of the gift will not know who they will be getting their gift from until it arrives.  

A few rules for the exchange:

• All participants must have at least 25 posts at this board. (This is for everyone's protection, especially since real names and addresses will be shared).
  
  
• The value of the gift should not exceed $10 US.  
  
  
• The gift does not have to be hair related, but we all know we love hair toys! Please do not send hair products such as shampoos or conditioners - these can be easily tainted and are heavy to ship.
  
  
• Since we have people here from all over the world, we will try to keep people within reasonable shipping areas, but if you are willing to do an overseas shipping, please let us know.
  
  
• To participate, please PM me by January 22nd with your name and address,  hair color, type and length.  Once I have all the names I will PM you with your person's information.  Your exchange may not be with  the person you are sending your gift to.  
  
  
• I will update this post with the list of name of those participating and when they have received their gift.
  
  
• Gifts should be sent by February 3rd. Be sure to include your screen name with your gift.
  
  
• Once you have received your Brighten Up Winter Exchange gift, please post here what you got and from whom so we can all share in the fun.
  

Please keep in mind that you are participating in this exchange voluntarily.  We certainly hope everyone will keep up their end of the exchange.  If unable to send your gift, please PM me so I can try to arrange another exchange.

I have the following people ready for the exchange:
Bikerbraid  ;D       Received
Sexywitch             Received
Lisabelle               Received
Maggie                   Received
Curlygirl                Received
Anais Satin                Received
Moonchild             Received
Galadriel               Received
13bodies              Received
Sakina                  Received
Wishing4longhair Received

I'm in! ;D

me too!  ;D

YES  :)

Memememeee! *bounces*

Woohoo!  Red?  Sign me up!  ;D

Hey BB, are you going to play this time?  Huh?  Are ya?  Huh?  8)

Please put me on the list, too.  8)

wrote on Jan 17^th, 2006 at 7:34pm:

Woohoo!  Red?  Sign me up!  ;D Hey BB, are you going to play this time?  Huh?  Are ya?  Huh?  8)

You didn't notice??  I'm at the TOP of the list - I'm not missing out this time!

wrote on Jan 18^th, 2006 at 11:25am:

You didn't notice??  I'm at the TOP of the list - I'm not missing out this time!

Well, I did score a C+ on a blogthings "How Observational Are You?" quiz.   :D

Oh, Oh, pick me, pick me!!!! I don't want to miss out this time.
Meg

The list is growing!  

My meeting for Saturday morning was cancelled - so I get go to the Mall of America and shop my special red items!

Last call!  

I will put the list together and send out the information on Monday morning. If anyone else is interested in the exchange, please PM me or email me today at robin@longlocks.com with your info.

The info has been sent out to everyone via PM's.  Have fun selecting your special red item(s) for your person.  

Don't forget to let us all know what you receive!

The box is on the way  :)  :)   :)

I need to go shopping. I can use any excuse to go shopping.  ;D
Meg

I got my package out in the mail today - hope it doesn't take to long to reach its special long hair destination!

I've shipped mine too, on Friday. It's going to someone who is female and has hair!

I'm nearly done with mine and I'll ship it out on Thursday.   :D

The Red gift has been sent out today. hopefully sooooooon, someone will get it. 8)

wrote on Jan 29^th, 2006 at 4:42am:

I've shipped mine too, on Friday. It's going to someone who is female and has hair!

...Geez!  Well, just give it away, why dontcha?!!  ;D

I sent out 2 packages on Saturday, one was the Brighten Up Winter gift, the other was for a silly sock exchange.  The silly sock has already been received.  This will be a true test of international shipping - how long will this take???

Anyone get their Red gift yet??  :)

The Red present was sent out tonight! :D

I got my package today! And it was from.... Bikerbraid!  heheh!  I got a red eyelash lace boa, red funky socks, a little red teddy bear and some clear hair pins!  Thank you Bikerbraid, I really love my present! ;D

I sent mine today. Man, am I a procrastinator.  ;)
Meg

Yea!  It made it!  The guy at the post office kept trying to tell me it would take 4 - 6 WEEKS to get there!  It only took a week - not too bad.

I hope you have as much fun with the scarf as I had knitting it!  Hubby kept making all sorts of suggestions for how it could be used.  Unfortunately, I can't repeat them here  :-X

I sent mine out yesterday.  I can't come up with a hint better than Anais' so I won't try.   ;D

wrote on Feb 3^rd, 2006 at 7:26pm:

Yea!  It made it!  The guy at the post office kept trying to tell me it would take 4 - 6 WEEKS to get there!  It only took a week - not too bad. I hope you have as much fun with the scarf as I had knitting it!  Hubby kept making all sorts of suggestions for how it could be used.  Unfortunately, I can't repeat them here  :-X

Hhehe!  I love the scarf! What an awesome shade of red! When I saw it I was like OMG this so cool! It soo soft! Yeah it can take forever to get stuff to Canada but sometime poof! its there early!! ;D

I got mine Saturday!  ;D
Thanks to Galadriel, I now have a cute pair of red and white stripped socks (which fit nicely), some hair ties (I still need to try them out, they look interesting) and a puffy scrunchy! yeah, it's fun to get mail.
Meg

I got my package and it was from...Moonchild!

She sent me:  a clay kitty cat with a sweet smile on its face.  It's quiet, well-behaved and hairless.  It is rapidly becoming my favorite cat.   8)

A decorative chain thing that's about 5 feet long, with openwork metal hearts, circles with beads, teardrop shapes, and embossed silver disks joined by chains.  It's very pretty, but I can't find anywhere to hang it where Gorey doesn't bother it.   ;)

An orange half-sphere shaped candle holder which can hold tapers, votives, tealights, and...one of the 3 orange half sphere shaped candles Moonchild sent as well.   :D

A wire basket with a design that looks like a spider web.  Most wonderful.  ;D

A package of mini German chocolate bars.   :-*

An orange postcard from Nuremburg.   :)

And....a bag of Haribo gummy bears!!!  They're kind of hard and chewy and I LOVE THEM!!  I used to be able to find them occasionally at Hills or Toys 'R Us back in the 1980's during the big gummy fad, but I haven't seen any for years.   ???  Yay!  My brother loves them too, so I immediately called him and rubbed it in.   8)

The package arrived on a thin, grey, snowy day.  It definitely brightened up my winter.  Thank you, Moonchild!!!!   :-*

I recieved my gifts, from Meg, Wishing4Longhair!!!

She sent me the cutest note with:

2 yummy smelling candles-cinnamon & strawberry rhubarb
1 pink & red bandana
and
a gorgeous celtic knot hair slide in matte silver metal.

Pictures coming soon!

Thanks, Meg.  I love my gifts!!

I got my package yesterday from 13 bodies. Thank you!

It included

2 pairs of hairsticks

a rubber ducky holding red roses- so cute!

a vial of red raspberry seed oil

a small jar of red palm oil

a small jar of orange goo- refined shea butter, red palm oil, unrefined shea, coconut oil and mango butter

Chagrin valley shea rose clay

fragrance oils from Black Phoenix alchemy lab

and a hair clip shaped like a butterfly

I sent my package out yesterday!  ;D

The mailman was busy, busy, busy at my house today!  My Brighten Winter Red gift from Maggie showed up!  Yea!  A very pretty pillar red candle (with lots of sparkly sparkles) and a cute red, pink and white bandana with hearts!

Thank you!!  After my ugly, icky day at work, this package really brightened my day.

[My LHC silly sock exchange socks arrived today as well!  Yippee!]

Major embarassment on my part  :-[
My package was from Sexywitch!  I had misplaced my master list, and we have several people on the list with similar real life names, so, in a moment of stupidity (or maybe I should say excitement?  ;)) I got the names mixed up.

Thank you Sexywitch!  

My gifts from Sakina arrived!  :D

She sent me a RED feather boa, a self warming cap and a wide toothed tail comb. They're all great. Thanks, Sakina!

The cap is especially interesting- I have never seen anything like it. The gold foil looks much better than my ugly shower cap- I'll try it right next time I make myself a deep treatment.

Whoo hoo!  Just 4 more special red gifts to be received!  Maybe today will be the day everyone gets their packages!

Your welcome bikerbraid. I'm glad you liked them.

wrote on Feb 10^th, 2006 at 12:27pm:

The cap is especially interesting- I have never seen anything like it. The gold foil looks much better than my ugly shower cap- I'll try it right next time I make myself a deep treatment.

That sounds quite interesting. What is it made of? Let us know how it works out.
Sakina, where did you get that?
Meg

Meg,
The cap is from Sally's and says on the front that it is a cap for cholesterol treatments.  It is supposed to hold in your body heat for the treatment to penetrate the hair.  It was in the section for Afro hair.  I figured it would be good for leaving a deep treatment on.  It is a pretty gold color.

Galadriel-be sure to let us know how it works!!

wrote on Feb 10^th, 2006 at 12:27pm:

My gifts from Sakina arrived!  :D Thanks, Sakina!

You're welcome!!

BTW, if the boa got a bit squooshed in the mail you can fluff it up by holding the string inside the boa from one end and gently running your hand down the boa away from you.  I hope that makes sense!  Enjoy!

Sorry-I intended to include a note telling you this, hubby mailed it for me 'cause I was under the weather with my allergies and he ran off to the post office before I got the note written.

The boa arrived in perfect condition. :D

I've tested the cap now. It really warmed up a little after a while, but neverthless felt very comfortable to wear. Definitely much nicer to wear as a deep treatment cap than a regular shower cap. The color is great too!

My box arrived today  :)  :) Anais sent me a bright red neckwarmer!  :)

Thank you! I wil put it to use ASAP, especially since we had 2 feet of snow dumped on us.....

Glad you got it, Moonchild! I have one like it, and I use it as a snood (let the braid dangle out the back).

It's hard to explain - I'll post a photo sometime.

Hugs
Anais

I'm glad you liked the package, Sexywitch.   :D

wrote on Feb 10^th, 2006 at 8:30pm:

The cap is from Sally's and says on the front that it is a cap for cholesterol treatments.  It is supposed to hold in your body heat for the treatment to penetrate the hair.  It was in the section for Afro hair.  I figured it would be good for leaving a deep treatment on.  It is a pretty gold color.

What is Sally's? Is it a grocery (sp?)store? You just found it in the hair section? I'm interested in one, that's why I'm asking.
Meg

Meg,

If you'll PM me your full name & address I'll send you one.

Sally's is Sally's Beauty Supply-they sell shampoo/condish, hair color, comb/brushes, curlers, curling irons, hair dryers etc as well as makeup and nail polish, fake nails and stuff.

Thanks to Maggie, I received my red gift!  I got home about 6ish and lo and behold the box was right in front on my door. What a wonderful day to get my gift on V day.  I recieved  a beautifully wrapped gift with pretty tissue paper and a red rose, with a mini red card with my name on it,  CurlyGirl attached with a sweet note.  A silver HAPPINESS pin, a white loofah, a nice pink pomegranete bath bar and 3 wonderful scented mini candles.  

I hope you like your stuff, Curly Girl!  Believe it or not, I couldn't find any red hair toys around here, I was sooo disappointed, so I chose other red & pink gifts instead, I hope you still love me!  :-*

I also received my gift on Valentine's Day, but was not able to open it until the day after, due to the hecticness of the flower business!  Sooooo......

THANK YOU LISABELLE!!!   :-* :-* :-*

Lisabelle sent me the COOLEST pair of hairsticks, they are wooden with red and white thin rope wrapped around the ends and the have the cutest little pink flowers dangling from them, they are exactly my style!  I wore them in my hair right away, they hold really well, too, much better than my cheap plastic ones!  She also sent me an adorable hairtie with a big pink flower on it that can be worn either in your hair, or there is a pin on it so it can be worn on clothing also.  An awesome paper 'origami' (sp?) type bird that dangles from a string with a bell on the end, it is so unusual, I have never seen anything like it, I love it!  A pouch to keep jewelery, or makeup in, and tealight candle holders, which ironically are exactly the same as I sent to Curly Girl!  How wierd is that?!

Thank you sooooo much, Lisabelle!  I love everything you chose for me....particularly the hairsticks!  ;D

maggie

Oh Maggie I'm so happy you love your presents!! :-* the origami bird is a crane which represents long life in Japan. ;D  You can him in the window! I was getting worried that the package would not reach you as Canada post is really strange.
Have fun and enjoy!!! http://smilies.sofrayt.com/aiw/victory.gif

We have just Anais left to receive her gift and I know that it is "in the mail".  I guess we need to add to our info for these exchanges whether there are specific types of shipping that should be used or avoided!  Anais's package will be well traveled by the time she receives it!

Eve though i couldn't participate in this, I'm happy that everyone is happy with their gifts. :-*

Besides it was fun trying to figure out who will recieve their gift from who, and who will Anais recieve her gift from..... I know, and I won't tell ;D ;D

Curlygirl sent me a marvelous set of red hair goodies! They arrived today by UPS when I wasn't home, but very luckily a family member was available!!! Normally nobody is there.

Thank you for the hair goodies!! :D
2 clippies with RED flowers
a glittery RED flower with metal-free elastic
a RED headband
a little Snoopy RED hairbrush

Everything is so cute!
And I'm glad they arrived safely.

Thanks again,
Anais

Yea!!!!!  Finally, the long lost package finds its way to its rightful owner!

Sounds like the package was worth waiting for.  Enjoy!

To the best of my haphazzard record keeping, I believe everyone has received their exchange gift.  If I'm mistaken, please PM me so I can work on resolving this.

Anais  im so glad you recieved your gifts! Im sure everything that i got you or anything in the world will look wonderful in your goddess hair. ;)

BB thanks for your help and it turned out sooner than i thought!!! :)